This invention relates to a lockable quick-release blade assembly for ceiling fans. The blade assembly enables a user to insert or remove blades from the ceiling fan rotor easily and quickly.
Ceiling fans are very common household and commercial appliances. Traditional ceiling fans are difficult to install and equally troublesome to dust off the fan blades. Installation of a conventional ceiling fan usually means the installer standing on a stool or scaffold trying to work overhead with the mechanical and electrical attachments of the motor housing and rotor components of the fan. After the motor housing and rotor are properly positioned, the installer must then attach the fan blades to the fan rotor. This typically means trying to work from the underside of the fan and to fasten the blades and/or blade mounting arms to the motor or rotor by screws with precision. Depending on the number of blades, the same procedure has to be repeated many times before installation is completed. Such traditional fastening method is highly unsatisfactory. It requires the installer great dexterity, patience, efforts and time in order to connect each and every blade to the fan rotor. In most cases the blades are fastened by screws which may become loose over time due to vibration during operation.
Screw fastened ceiling fan blades also make cleaning and dusting very difficult. It will take too much efforts to unfasten the blades and remove them from the rotor for thorough cleaning. As a result, most of the time the only practical way to clean the blades is by sweeping the fan blades with a duster. This is highly undesirable as the dust will likely fall down the space below and further dirtying the surrounding furniture and the cleaner.
In view of the foregoing shortcomings, it is advantageous to have a ceiling fan whereby the blades can be easily attached to the rotor without the aid of special tools. Likewise, it is desirable to dislodge the blades from the rotor without having to exert excessive efforts. Attempts have been made to achieve this objective in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,306 (Bucher et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 2002/0054816 (Bucher et al.) endeavour to attach ceiling fan blades to the rotor mounting arms by coupling or biasing means, thus avoiding the need to use screws. However, the Bucher et al. design still require the user to fasten the rotor mounting arms to the rotor by traditional screws. Accordingly, it is beneficial to develop a quick-release blade assembly such that the blades can be attached to the rotor directly without having to first attach to a mounting plate and therefore avoiding the use of any tools or screws.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,777 (Kerr, Jr.), it discloses a quick-connect fan blade mounting assembly in which the blade holders are inserted into the rotor housing. The blade mounting holders are subsequently secured in place by rotating a ring cover in the mounting assembly. However, the Kerr, Jr. system does not do away with the need to first attach the fan blades with the blade holders.
A direct blade-to-rotor design was described in U.S. Pat No. 6,059,531 (Tai). Tai describes an impeller and fan blade attachment assembly which enables the fan blades to be inserted directly into the rotor housing. The blades are secured in place by a coil spring-acutated plate attached inside the rotor housing and abutting the opening for the blades. When in the inserted position, the coil spring-acutated plate biases against a corresponding aperture located in the blades. However, the Tai design does not afford very secure positioning of the inserted blade. When the fan is in operation, centrifugal forces of the spinning tend to pull the blades away from the rotor and creates a safety hazzard for the people and property in the vicinity of the fan. Moreover, releasing the blades from the Tai assembly requires the use of a pointed implement object, such as a pencil or a screwdriver to push through the opening on the blades to overcome the bias of the compression spring-acutated plate. This still means that the user must be equipped with special tools and work underside the ceiling fan to effect the blade dislodgement. In addition, the opening from the underside of the rotor which allows access of the implement object is unsightly. Furthermore, the Tai assembly is expensive to manufacture and therefore increases the costs of the fan.
It is therefore beneficial to have a ceiling fan which allows the blades to be inserted into the rotor housing with relative ease and yet enables the blades to be locked in position securely. It is also advantageous to be able to dislodge the blades by a single simple step without having the need to use special tools.
The present invention provides a quick-release blade assembly for a ceiling fan which solves the aforementioned shortcomings. A plurality of blade receiving apertures are evenly spaced apart along the periphery of the fan rotor. Lockable fan blades can be inserted into the lockable blade assembly situated behind the receiving apertures and are concealed inside the rotor housing. Once inserted, the blades are securely locked in operating position. To release a locked blade, the user only needs to push a blade release button on the rotor above the blade receiving aperture and pull the blade away.
It is a principal object of the invention to provide a ceiling fan that allows for easy locking and releasing of fan blades directly into and out of the ceiling fan rotor.
It is another object of the invention to provide a fan blade securely locked inside the rotor such that it will not become loose due to the centrifugal spinning force of the ceiling fan when in operation.
Accordingly, the present invention provides for a ceiling fan lockable quick-release blade assembly which comprises a fan blade having one end for inserting into a blade receiving slot in a fan rotor wherein a notch is provided on the longitudinal side near the insertion end of the blade. A housing defining the blade receiving slot and includes a blade locking member and a blade releasing member; the blade locking member comprises a spring biased locking bolt for locking to the fan blade notch when the fan blade is inserted into the blade receiving slot; the blade releasing member comprises a spring biased releasing means atop the housing and abutting the spring biased locking bolt at a 45xc2x0 angle whereby upon a user pressing the releasing means the upper projection of the blade locking bat is transversely pushed away thereby causing the lower projection of the locking bat to release the blade from the locking member.